CFIUS Seeks Public Comment on Known Investor Program & Improvements to CFIUS Process

March 2, 2026

In February, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Investment Security published a request for information ("RFI") regarding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' ("CFIUS") planned Known Investor Program ("KIP") and the current CFIUS process. The KIP is intended to be a voluntary program where repeat foreign investors can provide significant information to CFIUS outside the context of a specific transaction and essentially be pre-vetted ahead of CFIUS reviews for future investments, thereby helping to expedite review of the investor during a CFIUS review.  Significantly, however, this would not change the need for CFIUS to review each transaction involving a known investor entity on a case-by-case basis—including assessing the vulnerabilities associated with the US business and any related national security risks related to the transaction. The RFI sets forth CFIUS's thinking regarding eligibility criteria for participation in the KIP and the types of information KIP participants would need to provide to CFIUS, and also requests feedback from the public on the KIP. As the RFI indicates that KIP participants would need to provide extensive information to participate, a key open question is what value proposition participation will offer frequent investors and whether many will deem participation worthwhile. Of note, the RFI also seeks public comment on improving the CFIUS process for transaction parties generally, which is a rare opportunity to provide practical feedback to CFIUS. Written comments in response to the RFI are due by March 18, 2026. 

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